Ideas In Action

By Jennifer Kiilerich Imagine applying to a support service that turns down 66 percent of first-time applicants. Then imagine navigating that—a process which can involve multiple attempts, forms, taking time off work for meetings, and more—in English when it may not be your first language. That experience is the reality… Read More

By Jenna Somers Educators and researchers around the world, especially in countries with limited resources, need cost-effective, scalable tools for assessing early child development. Direct assessments, a commonly used approach, require children to complete a range of activities that measure academic, physical and social-emotional skills. These assessments paint a nuanced… Read More

The Tennessee Education Research Alliance’s assessment of Governor’s Early Literacy Foundation’s K-3 Home Library program and Raising Readers Nashville’s after-school reading program will help partner organizations strengthen early literacy. By Jenna Somers The Tennessee Education Research Alliance has begun evaluation studies of early grade literacy programs serving Tennessee’s public-school… Read More

By Jenna Somers Most elementary school-aged children have a surprising cognitive ability: they can detect—nearly as well as adults—when someone treats people from one social group differently than another. The study, “Children’s and adults’ detection of social biases,” published in January in Child Development, demonstrates children’s emerging capacity to recognize… Read More

By Jenna Somers  When a young student writes “F-L-O-T-E” for “float,” teachers at the Roberts Academy and Dyslexia Center at Vanderbilt University see the progress and potential behind her thinking. Samantha Gesel “Her incorrect spelling of ‘float’ is brilliant!” says Samantha Gesel, assistant director of the Roberts Academy… Read More

By Jennifer Kiilerich In several Tennessee high school classrooms, computer science students are stepping away from their screens. Instead, as part of a learning tool Vanderbilt University researchers are developing, the teens are actively moving around their environments, enacting algorithms and processes, asking questions and collaborating on solutions. It’s not… Read More

By Jennifer Kiilerich Toddlerhood is a critical window for developmental interventions. But up to 75 percent of children born with cleft lip or palate don’t receive the speech-language support they may need until grade school. This lag puts them at risk of challenges with communication, social… Read More

By Jenna Somers A new study finds that a culturally sustaining treatment can help nearly half of young Spanish-speaking children with early language delays improve their skills significantly—five times more than standard care alone. Led by researchers at Vanderbilt University Peabody College of education and human development, the… Read More

Tracing policy decisions from early America to today, the reports reveal how long-standing choices continue to shape access and outcomes for families. Press Contact: Sydne Lewis, 615-343-9946, sydne.lewis@vanderbilt.edu The Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center at Vanderbilt University published the first installment in a series of reports, Social Policy… Read More

By Jenna Somers Almost anyone who starts a new job reads training and policy documents as part of an on-boarding process. They might peruse the assigned reading to check the right boxes, but how much are they really learning in the process? How can employers verify learning from training materials… Read More

Funding renewals from major philanthropic organizations will strengthen operations and research efforts aimed at improving outcomes for young children and families.   Press Contact: Sydne Lewis, 615-343-9946, sydne.lewis@vanderbilt.edu The Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center at Vanderbilt University Peabody College of education and human development celebrates the most recent renewed financial… Read More

How do smartphones affect the brains of teenagers? That question is at the core of a new grant awarded to the School for Science and Math at Vanderbilt (SSMV) by the Dana Foundation, which works to advance neuroscience in alignment with community values and societal priorities. Menton Deweese, director… Read More

By Jenna Somers In daily conversations, most people are not aware of the complex brain processes taking place that make their conversations possible. However, understanding these processes could improve how AI communicates with people and how students learn at school. A new study aims to shed light on these processes,… Read More

By Jennifer Kiilerich In a game-changing partnership, Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development and the YMCA of Middle Tennessee are proving that effective reading interventions can come in all shapes—and ages. Reading Buddies is a peer-to-peer tutoring initiative spearheaded by Peabody researcher Jeanne Wanzek and Elizabeth… Read More

Andrew Nalani Andrew Nalani, assistant professor of human and organizational development, has joined the Bezos Family Foundation as an inaugural scholar of the Jackie Bezos Researcher in Residence program. Nalani began the one-year residency program on August 18, taking a leave of absence from his faculty position… Read More

By Jenna Somers   Families interested in enrolling their children in this study should contact the research team at vuhandsonplaylab@gmail.com or (615) 343-1079. Down syndrome, the most common chromosomal cause of cognitive disability, affects approximately one in 700 live births. Scientists have known the genetic etiology of Down syndrome for… Read More

By Jenna Somers About a quarter to a third of students with mathematics learning disabilities do not show adequate improvement after receiving skills-based math interventions. A new study will test the effects of combining a mathematics intervention and working memory training on the math learning of first-grade children with… Read More

Policies adopted by states drive major differences in the resources available to families.   The first three years of life are critical for healthy development, yet families in some states have more than twice the resources of those in others—a gap created by state policy choices. Consider a single mother… Read More